The main event welterweight title unification tilt between Georges St-Pierre and Carlos Condit may be getting all the attention heading into Saturday night, but there is a lot more to keep an eye on at UFC 154 in Montreal than just the return of “Rush” against “The Natural Born Killer.”

That said, you should definitely still pay attention to the main event too, because I expect it to be awesome.

Here’s what to look for Saturday night at the Bell Centre:

The Impact of Greg Jackson’s Absence

I don’t really think this will be a factor for Condit, who has followed the same game plan (to a certain extent) for his entire career, save for his bout with Nick Diaz. I do, however, have my concerns about what kind of impact Jackson’s absence will have on the returning welterweight champion.

Jackson has been the strategist in the GSP camp for some time, and considering Condit is a very different type of fighter than anyone St-Pierre has faced in recent years, his departure from the scene could play a role in the outcome of the fight. If this was simply a case where St-Pierre had been competing regularly and Jackson bowed out, I wouldn’t be as intrigued by this element, but with the numerous concerns St-Pierre has to have heading into this fight already – the layoff, his knee, Condit himself – removing someone who has been instrumental in his success, and a calming, consistent presence in his corner could be another concern the 31-year-old St-Pierre doesn’t need at this time.

GSP’s Strategy

St-Pierre has said throughout the build-up to this fight that he wants to be more opportunistic; that he wants to take a few more calculated risks when he’s in good positions. As a fan, that sounds great. As an analyst, it’s worrisome, and something I definitely want to keep an eye on.

As much as some fans and critics enjoy panning St-Pierre’s risk averse approach in the cage, it works really well. No one has truly tested St-Pierre since “The Upset,” and a big part of the reason for that is because he’s been able to shut everyone down with the way he fights. St-Pierre is a master at finding your weakness and exploiting it for 25 minutes. Now he wants to eschew some of that in the biggest fight of his career against the most dangerous opponent he’s faced in years?

Condit isn’t the kind of guy you take chances with, and as brilliant as St-Pierre has been over the last seven or eight years, a big part of his success has come from sticking to what works for him and not taking unnecessary risks. So why change it up now?

Condit’s Constant Aggression

A little earlier, I said Condit has followed the same basic game plan throughout his career. Here it is: move forward and attack, looking for the finish.

No matter what round, no matter who the opponent, Condit looks to press the action, put you on your heals, and fire off strikes. That blueprint has lead to 28 wins in 33 fights, and 26 finishes split equally between submissions and knockouts. Even when you beat him up, the 28-year-old Albuquerque native gets back up and comes forward, looking to finish. Don’t confuse Condit’s aggression with carelessness though; he’s calculating, not wild, and doesn’t often put himself in bad positions.

St-Pierre hasn’t faced anyone as aggressive as Condit in quite some time. Most of his recent opponents have been hesitant – defensive even – against St-Pierre, but I don’t expect that from Condit. He knows that to be successful against St-Pierre, he needs to stick to what has worked for him throughout his career, and be the one dictating the pace and placement of the fight as much as possible.

Styles make fights, and I think Condit’s aggressive style will make this one very, very interesting.

Martin Kampmann’s Movement

When it comes to “The Hitman,” you know his striking is going to be on point. He’s going to rip off crisp jabs and straight right hands all day, every day, and fire off a bunch of well-timed, thudding leg kicks too. That much is a given.

What isn’t always assured, however, is that Kampmann will move well. Sometimes, he gets too caught up in trying to go shot-for-shot and stops moving his head, using feints, and circling out like he should after every strike, and that has led to some bad decisions and one nasty knockout loss already in his career. Johny Hendricks, the man Kampmann faces on Saturday, has a booming left hand that he’s always hunting with, and he only needs to land one to earn himself top spot on the list of contenders in the welterweight division.

Kampmann needs to approach this fight similar to the way he fought Rick Story, another compact, strong wrestler who likes to throw hands. In there bout at UFC 139, the Danish kickboxer picked Story apart over 15 minutes with a pop-pop-move approach that kept the Vancouver, Washington native on the outside, unable to do any real damage. While I think Hendricks is a more formidable foe than Story – despite the fact that Story is the lone man to beat Hendricks to date – the blueprint to beating him is similar: don’t fall in love with your striking and forget to move.

The Left Hand of Johny Hendricks

As I said two paragraphs earlier, Hendricks loves to sling lefts early and often. We all saw what it did to Jon Fitch at UFC 141, and I watched him blister TJ Waldburger with that thing at the Fight Night show in Seattle last year up close and personal; it was nasty.

Crack, crash, thud, Johny wins!

But here’s the thing: Hendricks needs to set it up more. It’s one thing to catch Fitch right out the gate, but other than an opening seconds connection, you can tell when he’s going to throw it, and a technician like Kampmann will be prepared for it, and ready to circle and counter every time.

For Hendricks to be successful here, he needs to close the distance and make this a grind, and if he does that, I think his left becomes a bigger weapon along the cage and on the exit. I’m not re-discovering gravity here – if your opponent has to worry about your takedowns, your hands become better, and vice versa. Having success with his takedowns early or even committing to attempts early will open up opportunities for Hendricks to land a bomb, and he’ll probably need to in order to win.

The Continued Development of Francis Carmont

In each of his three UFC appearances, Tristar product Francis Carmont has gotten incrementally better.

After decisioning Chris Camozzi in his debut, he submitted Magnus Cedenblad, but he looked a little sloppy on the ground in the process. Three months later, Carmont tapped Karlos Vemola, and looked much more polished on the canvas. This weekend, the 31-year-old Frenchman squares off with Tom Lawlor in a bout that feels like a showcase opportunity – a chance for Carmont to continue his roll against a recognizable name and start establishing himself as a potential contender in the middleweight division.

I’m not sold on Carmont just yet, but it’s mostly because of the competition he’s faced. I think Lawlor is a step up from the trio of Carmozzi, Cedenblad, and Vemola, but he’s not a world-beater either. For me, this is a bout where Carmont needs to come out and dominate. If he can do that and continue to show improvement, I’ll be ready to talk about him as a dark horse in the division heading into 2013.

Costa Philippou’s Sense of Urgency

The New York-based, Cyprus-born middleweight is on a nice little run, having earned four consecutive victories. That said, all but one of them has come by way of decision, and the last two – victories over Court McGee and Riki Fukuda – have registered somewhere south of exciting. He’s cognizant of his need to ratchet up the intensity, and acknowledging that he was too cautious in his last couple fights when we spoke earlier in the month for a ufc.com feature.

Here’s the thing: Philippou is stepping in with an opponent, Nick Ring, who has some kind of magical power over the judges. For whatever reason, judges seem to give Ring more credit than his offensive output deserves at times, and that doesn’t bode well for the Serra-Longo student Philippou.

He can’t employ a stick-and-move or one-for-one approach in this fight; Ring is a high output guy early in the fight, and trying to match strikes with him is a losing proposition. For Philippou to push his winning streak to five, he’ll need to show the aggressiveness that produced his lone UFC stoppage victory – a first-round knockout win over Jared Hamman at UFC 133.

Kickboxing 101 Courtesy of Team Tompkins

Mark Hominick and Sam Stout are two of the most technical, clean, crisp kickboxers in the UFC. They mix up their strikes well, throw countless combinations, and work the body from start to finish, putting the style they learned under Shawn Tompkins on display every time they step into the cage.

Both have favourable match-ups Saturday night in Montreal; Hominick on the main card against Pablo Garza, Stout on the Sportsnet prelims against fellow Canuck John Makdessi. I have a feeling the two will combine to put on a kickboxing clinic at the Bell Centre. Hominick needs a win in a major way, and should tap into the successful game plan he utilized to defeat George Roop to find success here, while Stout is coming off a solid win over Spencer Fisher, and just needs to do the same things he did in that fight against Makdessi.

It’s the first time they’ve fought on the same UFC card since UFC 58 in March 2006. They both earned wins that night – Stout besting Fisher in their first encounter, Hominick submitting Yves Edwards – and they should be able to duplicate the feat on Saturday.

Light Heavyweight Chad Griggs

It’s easy look at the mutton chops and the balls-to-the-wall style and discount Chad Griggs, but the truth of the matter is that “The Gravedigger” has only lost once in the last seven fights, and that was to an unbeaten-at-the-time Travis Browne back in April.

This fight marks his debut in the 205-pound weight class, and I think Griggs has the potential to be an entertaining new addition. He’s not going to be a title contender, but the 34-year-old has nasty knockout power and an aggressive approach that can be hard to deal with at times. Pairing him with a middling veteran like Cyril Diabate makes for a perfect debut bout, as “The Snake” likes to trade as well.

We’ll know after this fight with the 39-year-old Frenchman if Griggs is capable of delivering a handful of entertaining fights at his new address like he did at his old heavyweight Strikeforce residence.

The Quiet Emergence of Steven Siler

Steven Siler deserves better than being in the opening bout of the night. He’s 3-0 in the UFC, and facing another fighter, Darren Elkins, on a three-fight winning streak, and yet they’re relegated to Facebook.

Regardless of when he’s competing, Siler is one of the most intriguing fighters on this card. He’s emerged from Season 14 of The Ultimate Fighter to string together wins over Josh Clopton, Cole Miller, and Joey Gambino, and has gotten demonstratively better with each successive appearance. Last time out, he completely crushed Gambino, something TUF 14 winner – and the man who beat him in the competition – Diego Brandao wasn’t able to do.

Fighting out of The Pit Elevated in Orem, Utah, Siler has benefited from the guidance of coaches John Hackleman and Jason Mertlich, and training alongside UFC (and TUF) vets Court McGee and Ramsey Nijem. He’s getting more comfortable in the cage, and starting to know that he belongs on the biggest stage with the biggest names. Considering how good he’s look over his last three – and over his last 18 fights honestly (he’s 16-2!) – people should be paying attention to this potential featherweight contender.

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